Improvement in making hats



UNITED Srnrns A'PATENT OFFICE.A j

yw'ILLIivI n. DOUBLEDAY, on BROOKLYN, New vonk.

.IMPROVEMENT iN MAKING HATS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 58,391, dated October 2, 1861i.

To all whom 'it may concer/n Be it known that I, WILLIAM E. DOUBLE-l DAY, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented, made, and applied to use la certain new and useful Improvement in Pressing and Shaping Hats and Bonnets 5. and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of my said invention, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making part of this specification, wherein"` Figure 1 is a vertical section ratus employed by me as in use. plan of the rim-block. v

Similar marks ,of reference denote same parts.

Heretofore in the manufacture of felt hats it has been usual to give to the cone a general 1m while wet, usually known as wet-blockwig. The hat is stift'eued, and then goes to the bench blocker and finisher, who stretches tlfe felt body over a crown-block, the band of which is varnished with shellac. The bodyis held on the block by a cord while the shel- Of the appa- Fig. 2 is a lac sets. He steamsit from time to time, pulls out the brim, and irons it until he brings it into proper shape. This is a laborious and expensive operation, and considerable timeis lost in steaming' the hat to make it sufficiently soft and moist. for working, and this steaming is usually repeated several times, because the hatv gets dry or cold, and the sizing sets before the hat can be completely shaped. After the hat has been thus blocked it is pounced, finished, and trimmed.

The nature of my said invent-ion consists in a brim-ring to which the edge of the fabric is firmly connected while the crown is stretched by a crown-block, the fabric being softened by moisture andsteam, so thatit is brought to shape at one operation, and retained in that shape until sufficiently cool or dry. Thereby I am enabled in one operation to perform in a perfect manner what has heretofore required at least two tedious and laborious operations by liandor complicated machinery.

In Letters Patent granted to me September 20, 1864, a concave die with pins around its edge is shown.

My present invention has the said Letters Patent for a foundation, and is a more full development of the invention therein set forth.

' In the drawings, a is a steam-box, to which y `steam is introduced in any desired manner. b

the hat is sufficiently dry and hard to retain To effect this I prefer and use the` its shape. brim-block d, which also aids `in smoothing the brim, and when the brim-ring b and block d are connected by clamps or other device the block c is thereby held in place, and the vhat and blocks are removed and set aside to allow the hat to cool and dry while another hat is being shaped and blocked by separate blocks, as before.

A cross-bar or yoke might be applied to hold the crown-block in place, said cross-bar being 1Lconnected at its ends to the brim-ring, so that the parts can be removed from the steam-box to cool and dry. If this mode of construction is adopted the hat crown and -brim will be eX- posed on one side to the air, which will facilitate drying.

It may not be indispensable that the hat be shaped and blocked directly over the steambox, as the fabric might be steamed and then shaped by the said 'ring and block beforeV becoming dry or cool. A ring, e, upon the top of the steam-box a maybe `made movable and provided with hooks to take the brim-block d and hold that to the brim-ring b.

In order to cause the hat to adhere to the crown-die for finishing the same upon a lathe, I employ shellac applied to the surface of the block, as the varnishV adheres to the inside of the hat-crown when it is separated from the block by the'usual method.

If the hat is made with a bell-crown by an expanding crown-die, the brim-ring should be made in two pieces, so that it can 'be opened to take it oft' the hat.v

By this mode of shaping and pressing hats, bonnets, and other articles to be worn upon lthe head, I am enabled to effect a great saving in time and cost, and the fabric is left in a much bettter condition than it would be if pressed between heated dies acting upon the entire surface. Besides this the hat or bonnet can be shaped at once into almost any form desired, the dies being constructed to produce that shape, thus enabling me to make articles that would be unsually costly when made by hand.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-,-

l. The ring brim-block b, to which the edge of the felt or other material is to be connected by pins or otherwise, in combination with the crown-block applied to stretch the fabric to shape, as set forth.

2. In combination with the brim-ring and` WM. E. DOUBLEDAY.

Witnesses:

GHAs. H. SMITH, T. G. C. MOUNTAIN. 

